


Did Not

by DeadishScribe



Category: Anthem (Video Game)
Genre: Blurb, Brin, Conversation, F/M, Giggling, Ryden, Work, freelancer - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 22:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18291875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadishScribe/pseuds/DeadishScribe
Summary: Sentinel Brin calls the Freelancer in for a talk about contracts and once again falls prey to their conversational tangents.





	Did Not

Her fingers met, then parted, then met again, uncertainty painted along her face. Tap, tap tap, tap, tap, tap tap. “Hey there, ‘lancer”

“Wow, ‘Hey there, ‘lancer’? What’s next, are you gonna call me by my name?” Ryden smirked, leaning against the door to her office overlooking the fountain.  
Sentinel Brin simply shook her head with a grin of her own, “You really need to work on your manners”

“You’re one to talk”  
“Fair, but I didn’t bring you here to chat” her thumb pointed to the radio systems behind her, “we’ve got chatter. Scar activity, as per usual”  
The freelancer shrugged, “Is it anything out of the ordinary? I’m starting to think you just use me to clean up your trash!”

Brin’s eyebrow perked up ever so slightly at the comment, “Whoever said I didn’t?”

His shoulders slouched a tad as his face gave the Sentinel a hurt, unapproving frown. Even if it was play-acting a little. Ryden wasn’t always sure what to make of Brin. She was a character, that much was certain. Quirky with the occasional twitch or two. A lot of plants. He actually appreciated that, the patience and kindness it took to nurture greenery. Anytime he had ever tried, Ryden turned plants brown within a few days like some sort of curse. The sturdy of broad shoulders made his way in, acknowledging the plants as he passed them by. Dad always said it ran in the men’s side of the family. He was always careful not to touch her work garden, so to speak, just to make sure all her hard work would remain in one piece. 

“O-o-ouch! So heartless!”

“No! I didn’t mean-!” Brin stumbled over her words, stuttering to a halt. She took a moment to process before answering, “Oh, I see. Humor. Ha ha” her choppy laugh was meant to be genuinely, but the sentinel wasn’t exactly known for her people skills.

The city beyond the courtyard was abuzz with sunshine and chatter, the clouds scarce but considerable in size when passing overhead. Fort Tarsis was starting to see more attention once the Freelancers began turning their luck around. In part thanks to Ryden, admittedly, though he argued that he was just the errand boy that was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He could see the glow of the market just above the gateways, rays of various hues in rich reds and yellows. Hanging above, seemingly by mere strings, the great moons. One, the smaller, matched the market’s red, and appeared to adorn the larger ashen blue moon like a flower perched upon an ear. Of course, the view was obstructed by the gateway of dawn, but somehow it only added to the grandness of the view before him. Not a bad evening to see Brin, not at all. Brin’s flowers were different pigments, however. It was all much like the forest beyond the walls of the fort, but tame, not trying to kill you. It was nice, if a tad unnerving. Mushrooms, flowers, some sort of… open oyster sporting some lovely pink hair. And berries. Probably. He wasn’t willing to test it, and he was a little afraid of the potential lesson in the history of some genus. Wait a second, he was actually picking some stuff up from her. Better have Brin rub off on him than Neeson by far. Then again, Ryden would actually have to spend time with the man, something he was almost entirely unwilling to do. Perhaps for the good of the fort, but even then, it would be kicking and screaming. 

The man nodded with a knowing smile, “Bingo!”

She tried to hide it, but Ryden spotted a grin hidden with a glance at one of her plants, “Again with the nonsense, seriously, what does that even mean?”

“I… actually don’t know, I just heard it in an old radio show once”

“So you just say it? Even when you don’t know what it actually means?”

“Yeah I do, but… can you can also stop making logical points at me?”

That’s when it happened, something he never thought he’d hear out of Bring; a giggle. Yep, that was definitely a giggle. She tried to muffle it with the back of her hand but failed miserably. He had to admit that she was rather cute in her own way. More than that, she was thorough, methodical, a true leader. Sure, her people skills were a bit lacking, but she knew how to get the job down while also directing people with efficiency. She ran clean operations, and he admired that. He was effective, even she had acknowledged that, but he was more or less… a bit brutish. Perhaps that would be a small overstatement, but it was the thought that counted. 

“Hey, you giggled”

“What?” she was starting to get defensive now. Such a thing could never be known about her, she would die, “No I didn’t”

“Yes, you did”

“Did not” one could use countless words and terms to describe sentinel Brin, persistent was one of them.

“Did too”

“Did not”

“Did too”

“Did not!” the gentle hum of the lights and lamps around her slowly molded into a distant background noise, and the lights themselves seemed to shine just that much brighter, Ryden couldn’t explain it.

The man paused a moment, unsure as how to respond, “Alright, fine, you didn’t giggle… on one condition—go on a date with me”

Brin murmured to herself, her eyes once again darting as her fingers tapped one another, “Assuming I did in fact giggle, as you call it, you know I don’t date”

“True, but I figured I’d give it a shot. Isn’t that what we Freelancers do? Literally?”

Surprisingly enough, another giggle escaped her lips before being caught by her hand, “That wasn’t a giggle either” Ryden couldn’t contain the laugh welling up in his chest, but he did the best he could to minimize it, “Don’t you know it’s rude to laugh, ‘lancer? … Fine, I’ll think about it. A date. Maybe. Just head out already and deal with those Scars, and I’ll think about it”

Ryden didn’t give a smug grin like he usually would, but rather a different kind of smile altogether. The kind a schoolboy gets when a girl pecked his cheek. That’s what it felt like at least if the warmth gathering in his cheeks. He took a step back, and then another until he was almost back through the doorway before Brin caught his attention one last time, just two words—did not. He simply gave a wave with silent words on his lips.

Did too.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this work, please leave kudos and comments! I'll make content regardless, but it's encouraging, motivating, and makes me want to work that much harder. Your support is more invaluable than you know!


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